The school, located at 801 Broadway Ave. NW in American Seating Park, is one of five blended learning charter high schools launched by online learning giant Connections Education. The schools are considered more personalized, innovative and flexible than a tradition school model.

Besides Grand Rapids,the college prep curriculum schools in Lansing, Cleveland, Toledo, and Columbus opened this school year and another is planned for Royal Oak this fall.

State Rep. Brandon Dillon, D-Grand Rapids, and Sen. David Hildenbrand, R-Lowell Township, spoke with students, parents, teachers, and school board members as they toured the school. Students spend four hours at school, four-days a week, with instructors and success coaches and an online curriculum for use at home.

"We are talking a lot about education reform in Lansing, so when the invitation came in I certainly wanted to see this program," Hildenbrand said. "I am very impressed, but this isn't for every family. In my work in the Legislature, I talk a lot about empowering parents to create opportunities in education for parents, so they have the flexibility to look at what works best for their student."

Hildenbrand said Nexus is a niche that is working great for some families. He said giving parents as many options as possible is great for education because every child and learns differently.

Dillon agreed there is no one-size-fits-all model for educating kids but says he continues to be concerned about making sure that there is accountability for those outside the traditional public school system.

"While we are engaging in some new models for education, we need to make sure that we are testing them, that they are data-driven, and we're not just expanding them without knowing what the consequences are," said Dillon, who said it was exciting to see Nexus students learning in a different way.

"Secondly, we want make sure that we are not creating a dual track educational system, where you have really innovative opportunities for people who have the means or a support structure at home to be able to come to a school like this and everybody else is left behind in a system where it cost more and more to educate kids."

He said there is finite amount of resources and would prefer to see proper funding first for traditional public schools and then have opportunities for other models to be able to serve different student populations.

Nexus has 50 students but the Connection schools are capable of enrolling 250 to 300 teenagers. The school occupies about an 18,000-square-feet space and resembles a university student center or lab. Parents and grandparents who engaged lawmakers talked about the need for school choice and more funding for education

They also talked about how Nexus has been a perfect fit for their student, whether highly advanced, middle of the road, or struggling in core subject.

"This is something that is truly innovative," Sheri Logsdon, who has a freshman at Nexus, told lawmakers. "Parents do need to be involved."

Students at the school were previously at other charters and traditional high schools in Kent County.

"In order to stay on top of things, you have to be self-disciplined or you will fall behind,' said Mikayla Everse, 15, a freshman, who enjoys the flexibility of being able to work at her own pack and the four-day week schedule.

Cheryl Irwin, who has grandson at the school, said he has done better in math since coming to the school.

"There is no limit to how much time they will spend with my grandson,"
she said.